On this date, December 30, not so long ago, in the year 1924, a guy named Edwin Hubble walked into a little meeting at the American Astronomical Society, and sat down at his table. The room was filled with lots of other science nerds, much like himself, all sitting around, chatting, smoking cigarettes, and biding time until the meeting started. But Edwin sat silently, looking down at the folder in front of him, nervously tapping his pencil on the manilla cover.
He was thinking about playing basketball. He loved a good game of basketball, that was for sure. As a youth, he was quite athletic. He played about every sport, football, baseball, track. But he excelled at basketball, even playing in college, leading the University of Chicago team to its first conference title in 1907. That is where he earned his bachelor’s degree in law. His father always wanted Edwin to be a lawyer. So the dutiful son followed that path, all the way to The Queen’s College, Oxford. He was one of the first Rhodes Scholars there, studying law. Right now, though, as he sat at the meeting, he was filled with nervous energy. He’d rather be playing a good game of basketball, the thought.
Once his father died, Edwin decided to begin studying what he was truly interested in, and that was Astronomy. That’s what brought him here, holding this information. He earned his Ph.D. in 1917, from the Yerkes’ Observatory. All of this before WWI. Again, he dutifully served during the war, but his Battalion never saw combat. It enable him to resume his path, his discovery of science and astronomy. He would work in that field until his death in 1953. But along the way, he made several significant discoveries.
One of those was written down in a paper in front of him, on that table, as he sat waiting, at the yearly Astronomer’s Meeting. When it was his turn, he walked up to the podium and said, “Guess what guys. We are not alone.”
Well, maybe not quite that, but wouldn’t it have been great if he had? Instead, he announced to the American Astronomical Society, the existence of other galaxies. There is much more beyond the Milky Way, he told them.
Hubble’s findings fundamentally changed the scientific view of the universe. Of course, at the time, he had both supporters and nay-sayers. In fact, some of those snooty scientists scoffed. But the supporters said this was some big dang news, and that Hubble’s discovery of nebulae outside of our galaxy was amazing. It would pave the way for future astronomers.
He published his work which earned him an award titled the American Association Prize and five hundred dollars from Burton E. Livingston of the Committee on Awards. I guess that was large potatoes back then.
Hubble also devised the most commonly used system for classifying galaxies. He did this by grouping them according to their appearance in photographic images. He would then arrange the different groups of galaxies in what became known as the Hubble Sequence. But isn’t that quite a thing. First we went from thinking ours was the only galaxy, to now, having to put them in categories, because we were getting so blessed many.
Here’s something to think about when you are looking down on your Cheerios floating around in your milk bowl. According to the best estimates of astronomers, there are at least one hundred billion galaxies in the observable universe. Imagine, now, a really big bowl, with a whole big bunch of Cheerios.
I’m sure someone else would have come along and discovered what Edwin saw from his perch in front of his telescope. But even still. I am constantly amazed at the enormity of the Universe, and the expanse of all the things we humans do not know. There is so much beyond us. An incredible, vast amount of awareness, just on the other side. I’m not sure we’ll ever know this, as we humans, still getting poop on our shoes when we walk our dogs, and say things like, “Hey, do you smell something?” No. We probably won’t ever know. But for me, it is fun to imagine.
I think it is important for us to imagine. Perhaps, we don’t think about the energy that might exist in the other reaches of the Universe. But maybe we find a new book for our grandkid, or we try to paint a picture for the first time in our lives. Maybe in the spring, we plant a garden and watch it grow. We should let our imaginations take us where they will. To places we’ve never been. Even if they are in our own kitchens, or notebooks, or in our backyards. There are no final frontiers. Those are for nay-sayers. Keep discovering, like Edwin did.
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“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”
―Albert Einstein
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“What is now proved was once only imagined.”
―William Blake
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“You’re only given a little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it.”
―Robin Williams
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